The invention relates to football gloves, and more particularly to football gloves for preventing hyperextension of fingers and a method of use.
A football player blocks a defender by pushing the defender with one or more of his hands in a desired direction. The rules of football require that an offensive player's hands must be open (i.e. not in a clenched fist configuration) when blocking. The defender typically attempts to thwart the efforts of the offensive player by pushing the offensive player's hands away. If the defender pushes on the offensive player's digits (i.e. fingers and/or thumbs), the fingers and/or thumbs can be pushed backward beyond their normal range of motion which can result in hyperextension of the players digits and cause injury.
One method of protecting the offensive player's digits is to tape the digits together. The combined strength of the taped digits reduces the potential for injury to any one digits. Unfortunately, taping the offensive player's digits reduces the range of motion and functionality of the offensive player's hands, such as the ability of the offensive player to grasp an object, such as a football, or another player. Football gloves are also available that protect a player's hands from injury, such as when the hand is stepped on. These gloves, however, do not provide any protection for hyperextension of a player's fingers.
The rules of football specify that an offensive player can grasp another player carrying the football and can recover loose footballs. Therefore, having the ability to grasp objects and other players is an important function of the offensive player's hands, in addition to the need for protection from injury. Accordingly, a need exists for protecting an offensive player's digits from hyperextending without impairing the offensive player's ability to grasp objects and other players.